Stoner storms Misano qualifying

2011-09-03 09:36
Repsol Honda’s Casey Stoner will start the Gran Premio Aperol di San Marino e della Riviera di Rimini from pole position on Sunday, after breaking his own lap record set at the Misano circuit three years ago.

The Australian set out into the afternoon qualifying session intent on taking pole position for the San Marino race on Sunday, and not only achieved his goal but broke his own lap record set in 2008 with a lap time of 1’33.138.

Yamaha Factory Racing’s Jorge Lorenzo made a late push for the pole after leading the majority of the session, but missed out on the top spot by 0.120s to take second beside Championship leader Stoner on the front row. Last year’s pole man and race winner Dani Pedrosa’s time of 1’33.318 gave him the final spot on the front row.

Ben Spies (Yamaha Factory Racing), who started from fifth last year and finished the race sixth, will start his Yamaha YZR-M1 at the head of the second row after posting a time of 1’33.947. The American is joined by Marco Simoncelli (San Carlo Honda Gresini Team), whose time of 1'33.990 landed him fifth, while Andrea Dovizioso of Repsol Honda takes the sixth spot on the outside of row two.

Colin Edwards (Monster Yamaha Tech 3) heads the third row, with Álvaro Bautista, whose eighth place start is his best yet of the season, joining the American. Héctor Barberá (Mapfre Aspar), who finished ninth and was the first non-factory Ducati last year in the MotoGP race at Misano, qualified ninth to complete row three.

Hiroshi Aoyama (San Carlo Honda Gresini) completed the top ten riders, while Valentino Rossi (Ducati Team) followed in 11th, 1.538s off the pole position time set by Stoner.

Cal Crutchlow (Monster Yamaha Tech 3) had a crash when pushing hard at the end of the qualifying session, ending up 13th on the grid just behind Karel Abraham (Cardion AB Motoracing), while Randy de Puniet (Pramac Racing) had a crash early in the qualifying practice. The French rider ended the session in 14th place, ahead of ahead of Nicky Hayden (Ducati Team) in 15th.

Moto2

Stefan Bradl (Viessmann Kiefer Racing) took his seventh pole position of the season - and his first since the Assen GP – with a best effort of 1’37.828, leaving his closest rival Marc Márquez (Team CatalunyaCaixa Repsol) trailing by 0.256s. The German was the only rider in the Moto2 class to break the 1’38” barrier.

Márquez pushed a bit too hard at the start of the session and had a fall, but was able to rejoin the meet, posting a time of 1’38.084 on his final lap which put the Spaniard second on the grid. Yuki Takahashi (Gresini Racing) followed Márquez with a time of 1'38.340 to take the third spot on the grid, making this the Japanese rider’s fourth front row grid position of the season.

Two Brits occupy the second row, with Scott Redding (Marc VDS Racing) leading after posting a time of 1'38.364, Bradley Smith (Tech 3 Racing) completing the row with a 1'38.535 lap time and San Marino local Alex De Angelis (JiR Moto2) between the two with a posted time of 1'38.461.

Speed Master’s Andrea Iannone crashed out of the session in turn two, but rejoined the outing to post the seventh fastest time, putting the Italian at the head of row three for the race start. Michele Pirro (Gresini Racing Moto2) and Pol Espargaró (HP Tuenti Speed Up) join Iannone on the third row. Row four is led by Thomas Lüthi (Interwetten Paddock Moto2), with Jules Cluzel (NGM Forward Racing) and Aleix Espargaró (Pons HP 40) joining the Swiss rider.

125cc

Avant-AirAsia-Ajo rider Johann Zarco put on a superb qualifying display to seal his second pole position of the season ahead of the Misano race, the Frenchman’s hot lap of 1’43.247 left him 0.193s clear at the top of the leader board, ahead of Bankia Aspar team-mates Héctor Faubel and Nicolas Terol.

Faubel followed Zarco onto the front row with a best effort of 1’43.440, while Terol was third on the timesheet at 0.164s off his team-mate and 0.357s off the number one spot with a time of 1’43.640.

Sandro Cortese (Intact Racing Team Germany), whose best race result at Misano is fifth, will start from the head of the second row after posting a time of 1’43.605, followed by Danny Kent (Red Bull Ajo Motorsport), the last rider under a second off the pole position time. Wildcard rider Miroslav Popov (Ellegi Racing) had a superb qualifying result, posting a time of 1’44.255 to place him on the second row of the grid.

Jonas Folger (Red Bull Ajo Motorsport), Luis Salom (RW Racing GP) and Miguel Oliveira (Team Andalucía Banca Cívica) make up the third row, while Maverick Viñales (Blusens by Paris Hilton Racing Team) heads row four of the grid. Efrén Vázquez (Avant-AirAsia-Ajo), who finished 3rd in the 125cc race last year, takes position 11 next to Viñales on the fourth row, followed by Alberto Moncayo (Team Andalucía Banca Cívica), who is riding through a shoulder injury sustained at the Indianapolis GP last weekend.